Letting Go
by IheartJack0023
Summary: One-Shot. [Usopp x Human!Merry]


**A/N:** In Western culture ships are always seen as feminine.

Also, I'm really sorry for writing this. I started crying midway as I wrote it.

* * *

 _"He's gone to Davy Jones's locker...the whole phrase [translates to] 'He is gone to the place of safe keeping, where duffy Jonah was sent to.'" - E. Cobham Brewer, 1880_

* * *

The Straw Hat crew all ran out of their sleeping quarters as they felt their ship, the Thousand Sunny, start to shake.

"Oh no! Guys!" Nami shouted as she peered over the side of the ship. "It looks like we've run aground."

"What?" Asked Luffy.

"It means that the ship has hit land and become stuck there," Robin explained for her captain.

"We hit land?" He questioned with a look on excitement. "Yosh! Let's go explore!"

"Wait! Don't—," but before Nami could finish her sentence, her captain had already left. "Ugh. How did this even happen? Who was supposed to be on night watch?" The crew members looked around at one another, stopping when they noticed—Nami included—Usopp trying to step away from the group. He noticed that all eyes had fallen on him.

"It wasn't my fault," he said. "This island appeared out of nowhere!" The others looked at him unamusedly. "I'm serious!"

"Maybe it's a ghost island," Sanji stated.

"It does remind me of Thriller Bark," added Zoro.

"Oh. My skin is crawling at the thought," said Brook. "Except I don't have any skin. Yohohoho. Ah, but Thriller Bark wasn't really a ghost island.

"Maybe we should go and see what kind of island this is," Sanji suggested,

"I am completely 100% against that idea," said Usopp as his legs started to shake, knees knocking together. "Right, Chopper?" The reindeer nodded.

"I doubt it's like Thriller Bark, though," said Sanji as he exhaled smoke out of his mouth. "That place was one of a kind."

"Really?" Asked Chopper as he and Usopp both visibly relaxed at the comforting words.

"Maybe that means that this place might be even worse," said Robin.

"Worse than zombies?" Asked Nami. Robin nodded.

"Maybe vampires. Or evil witches," she said.

"D-d-don't be silly, Robin. Those things don't exist," Nami said as she joined Usopp and Chopper in their trembling.

"We thought Zombies didn't either," she said with a smile.

"She's right," Zoro said. The scared trio screamed.

"As long as it's not ghosts then I'm fine," said Brook. "Vampires would have no interest in me anyway."

"Oi, stop scaring them," Franky told Robin. "Well, I'm going to try and find a good way to pull the ship back into the sea." Nami nodded at the cyborg.

"That's a good idea," she told him.

"We do need to go on the island," said Zoro. "Someone's gotta get Luffy and make sure he doesn't do something."

"Definitely not you," said Usopp.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Shouted the swordsman.

"You'll just get lost," said Usopp.

"Like hell I will! I don't get lost. It's you guys that are always running off and getting lost."

"Let's choose sticks again to decide who will go," Sanji asked with eight sticks in his hands. "Those with short sticks can stay on the ship and those with long sticks will go onto the island." Everyone nodded and stepped forward to pick a stick. In the end, the groups were as followed: staying on the ship was Franky, Robin, Brook, and Zoro; going on the island was Usopp, Nami, Sanji, and Chopper.

"No," wailed Usopp. "I think my I-can't-go-onto-strange-islands disease is acting up."

"Shut up and let's go," said Sanji, stepping forward. Usopp sighed and slumped over.

Eventually, the group of four found themselves walking through the dark and foggy island. The air was cold and the ground and trees were bare. Usopp, Nami and Chopper couldn't help but be scared of the eerie feeling that the land gave off.

"Don't worry, Nami-swan~," Sanji said. "You have nothing to be scared of. I'm here to protect you~."

"Me too?" Asked Usopp.

"You can protect yourself perfectly fine," Sanji told him.

"No," cried Usopp.

As they continued to walk, they noticed that they had met no living creatures yet.

"Maybe this is a dead island," Nami said. Just as she had said that, a girl suddenly popped up right in front of them causing them to jump.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you guys!" She had light pink, almost white hair and, strangely enough, a set of horns on her head. She gave them a smile and the group relaxed at the sight. She seemed perfectly harmless.

"Of course it's no problem, " Started Sanji as he kneeled on one leg next to her and grabbed her hand in his. "A lady of such exquisite beauty need not apologize for that."

"Hey," Nami said, moving the girl's attention from Sanji to her. "Could you tell us where we are?"

"Oh, you're in Davy Jones' locker!" She said cheerfully. Her voice was soft and airy. They all looked at her skeptically for a moment. The idea was ridiculous, but still—there was something about this girl that made them feel like they could trust her with even their lives.

"W-what?!" Said Usopp. "Oh, no. We must have died and not realized it. This is all my fault." He started to weep. The girl tilted her head and stared at him. There was something about him that called to her.

"Actually," she said after a while. "I don't think you guys are dead. Though it is strange for the living to end up here. You guys must have entered into some really strange part of the sea and were brought here."

"Why do you think that?" Asked Sanji who was standing up again. She turned around and walked forward, motioning for them to follow. They hesitantly did so.

"Those who end up here are those who have died out at sea. And once we awaken here we have no memories of our past. We remember our names, but other than that we have no idea who we were before this or who we knew." She stopped in her tracks, causing them to stop right behind her, and looked up at the sky. "I think it's so we won't miss those we've left behind." She shook her head and continued to walk forward. "But you guys have your memories, right?" They nodded even though she couldn't see it. "Then you can't be dead."

"Phew!" Usopp said. "That's good news." The girl stopped again and then turned around to face the group. She looked at them and tilted her head.

"You guys look familiar to me, though," she said. "I don't know who you are, that's for sure, but something inside of me feels warm when I look at you all." Her eyes move from each crew member to the next, settling on Usopp last. She smiled kindly at him. "Especially you," she said, addressing Usopp. "Maybe I knew you all when I was alive." Usopp furrowed his brow as he observed the girl closely.

"But we've never seen you before," he told her. She frowned at his words.

"Oh," she said softly. "Then I must be mistaken." She went to turn around, but stopped when she heard Sanji speak.

"Would you give me the honor of telling us your name?" Sanji asked her. The girl smiled again.

"Merry," she said. Sanji's jaw dropped, letting his cigarette fall on the floor, as his mind made a few connections. He looked over at the rest of the crew to see if they were thinking the same thing. His eyes connected with a teary-eyed Nami and that was all that he needed, to know that she was thinking the same exact thing. Chopper, too, had tears ready to stream down his face as he looked at her, but Usopp's eyes remained dry as he shook his head.

"No," he said. Merry tilted her head to the side again.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Well," began Nami. "We used to have a ship called the Going Merry, but she eventually became unable to keep going. We gave her a funeral at sea. And the figurehead was that of a sheep." At the memory, Chopper started to sob while a few tears escaped Nami's eyes.

Merry moved one of her hands up to touch one of the horns on her head—horns that resembled those of a sheep. She smiled at the thought that that could indeed have been her and that these people were indeed special to her.

"No!" Shouted Usopp. His gaze was set on the floor and his hands were balled up into fists at his sides. His body was starting to shake in anger. He lifted his head and glared at her. "She is not the Merry! Don't say things like that!" He turned to look at his crewmates. "Saying things like that is disrespectful to the Merry and her death!" Merry couldn't help but frown at his words. She placed her hand on her chest; it was starting to ache.

"But, Usopp," began Sanji, "it would explain why we seem familiar to her."

"No!" He shouted turning back to glare at the girl. "She is not the Merry!" He turned and stormed away from the group. They turned their attention away from their departing friend and back to Merry when they heard sobs. She was gripping tightly to the cloth of her black dress that lay over her chest and had tears streaming down her face.

"Merry..." Nami began.

"It hurts," she said. "I don't know why, but it hurts."

They couldn't help but frown at her words. Nami stepped forward and pulled her into a hug in hopes that it would comfort her. Sanji sighed as he turned to look in the direction that Usopp had gone. Without a second thought, he started to walk in that direction. There was no way that he was going to let that idiot get away with making a lady cry.

"Usopp," Sanji had said when he had found the man, still fuming. "You can't just ignore the possibility that she might be the form of the late Merry. It seems very likely." Usopp didn't say anything. "Look, this whole situation is ridiculous. A place where those who have died at sea go? But, tell me, why did you believe that it was true when she said that?" Usopp's face softened and he sighed.

"Because every single part of me keeps telling me that I can completely trust her," he answered. Sanji leaned back against a dead tree as he blew out some smoke.

"What else do you feel around her?" Usopp looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Familiarity. Comfort. Relief," he said. "Like I need to protect her," he said. "Like I need to do everything in my power to make sure that she's okay; to make sure that she's happy."

"If you feel like that, then why did you make her cry?" Usopp's eyes widened at Sanji's question.

"She was crying?" He asked in concern. Sanji nodded and pushed himself off of the tree.

"You essentially rejected her existence, y'know," he said. "That must've really hurt her." Usopp sighed in frustration and shook his head.

"It's difficult to believe that she could be the Merry, though," Usopp said.

"Is it, really?" Sanji asked. "Or are you just refusing to?" Usopp didn't say anything, only looking away from the man. Sanji sighed. "Look, I get it. We were all hurt when the Merry...when she met her end. And we all know that you were hurt the most. I get it if you're afraid to go through that again; but it's not fair to her to refuse to accept the possibility." Usopp felt tears start to appear in his eyes. "At least give her a chance," Sanji told him. Usopp looked at him with uncertainty in his eyes, but hesitantly nodded.

The two remained silent as Usopp followed Sanji back to where they had been before. When Usopp saw Merry's heartbroken face, he was consumed with guilt. He noticed dried tear streaks on her cheeks and that she was slightly trembling, but he didn't comment on either thing. Some of his guilt lifted, though, when he saw her face light up once he appeared again. She looked like she wanted to say something to him, but held it back.

Once he had rejoined the group, she turned back around toward where she had been walking in the first place and continued on her path while the four pirates followed behind her.

"Where are we going, anyways?" Chopper asked her.

"Oh! To where everyone else is, of course! That's where all the fun happens."

"What do you mean?" Nami asked.

"Well, this place is full of the dead, right? We have no duties, no responsibilities, but an eternity here. So we have to find something to do with our time. And what better way to pass the time than to," she paused. The crewmembers saw a huge crowd of people lying quite a distance ahead of them. They could hear cheering and music getting louder as they got closer. "Party!" She shouted with a grin and ran forward. The group wasn't sure how to react.

"Well, if Luffy is anywhere in this place it's probably there," Sanji pointed out.

"Do you think they have cotton candy?" Chopper asked excitedly.

"I doubt there's any food there at all," Nami said. "There are no animals here, all the trees are dead, and so are the people so they don't need to eat." Chopper deflated at the statement.

"Aww," he whined. Usopp remained silent. He found himself focused solely on Merry.

The crew walked into the crowd, looking around at all the faces, wondering if they would see anyone that they would recognize. It made them slightly uneasy.

It didn't take long for them to find Luffy; they felt relieved to see their captain who was singing Bink's Sake with a group of men while dancing around in a circle. They couldn't help but be pulled into the commotion, joining in on the excitement.

For dead people, they thought, they sure were lively.

Usopp managed to get himself out of the crowd; he found himself scanning it, trying to find Merry and it made him slightly irritated that she was effortlessly able to capture all of his attention.

"Hey, there," said a voice from behind him. He jumped at the sudden sound and turned around to find Merry's eyes meeting his own. "Oh, sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"What? Scared? The great warrior Usopp doesn't get scared! Especially not by something like that!" Merry giggled at his claim.

"I don't know why, but hearing you say that brings me comfort." Usopp's gaze softened as he stared at her. "Oh, why aren't you over there with everyone else?" She asked while looking over at the crowd. Usopp shrugged.

"I like it better over here," he said. Merry looked over at him and tilted her head. She blinked rapidly a few times and then gave him a large smile.

"That makes me happy," she said. "Let's sit down!" She sat down on the dirt ground with her arms behind her to support her body and her legs stretched out in front of her. Usopp followed her, sitting to her left in a cross-legged position.

"I like this," she said after a moment. Usopp, who had been looking ahead of him at the crowd, switched his gaze over to her. "I really like it with you here."

"Why?" He asked her.

"I'm not entirely sure," Merry began to explain. "But I just feel really happy around you; like things will be really fun as long as you're around. And I feel really safe too; like you wouldn't let anything happen to me; like you would do anything in your power to make sure of that. And if something were to happen, you would try your hardest to make it better." She paused.

She saw that Usopp was smiling as she finished explaining. It made her smile too. But as her thoughts drifted, it turned into a frown.

"I wish I could remember why though," she said. Usopp frowned as well.

"I can tell you some stories about our adventures," he suggested. Merry's face lit up at that.

"Yes!" She shouted. "You're a really good storyteller!" Usopp raised an eyebrow at that while Merry furrowed her brow once she had processed what he had said. "At least, that's what my gut is telling me."

"Of course I'm great at telling stories! I'm always sharing stories of the amazing adventures of the greatest warrior on the sea: Usopp." He grinned at her. His doubt about her being the Merry was subsiding quickly with the more he talked to her.

He turned his body to face hers as he started telling her stories of the adventures that they had had with the Merry—of when they first got the Merry, of when they reached the Grand Line and she was swallowed up by Laboon, of when reckless Luffy broke off the mast of the ship, of their adventures with Vivi and meeting Chopper along the way, and of their adventures on the Sky Island, which was her favorite adventure to hear about; she could not believe that she had actually gotten to fly.

But that's where he stopped. He didn't want to talk about Water 7. He didn't want to talk about all of the bad things that happened there; he really did not want to relive that pain. And he was sure that she had sensed that because she didn't push him to tell her anymore stories.

"Wow," she told him. "It sounds like I was happy. I think...something inside me is telling me that you guys always treated me well. I'm really happy now too." Tears started to form in her eyes. "Thank you. I'm happy now and it's all because of you." She rubbed her eyes, trying to push the tears away.

Usopp felt his heart start to constrict at what she was saying; they were echoing, almost exactly, the Merry's final words.

"I wish," she said. "I wish I could have stayed for just a bit more; I wish I could have taken you guys a little further." Usopp couldn't hold back the tears anymore. They started to uncontrollably stream down his cheeks. Those were the Merry's exact final words. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind anymore that this was her. And it made him feel both grateful and heartbroken.

Merry's eyes widened and she moved closer to the sobbing man.

"I'm sorry," she said with a deep frown on her face. "Did I say something wrong?" Usopp shook his head and wiped some of the tears from his cheeks, but it proved useless since more quickly took their place.

"I—," he began and his voiced cracked. There were no words that could possibly express how he felt in that moment so he didn't say anything.

He pulled her into his arms and held onto her for dear life; he was terrified to let her go, afraid that he would lose her again. Tears started to gather in Merry's eyes again, but she kept them in. She smiled a sad smile as she returned his embrace, holding on to him just as tightly as he did to her. She was afraid that at any moment she would blink and all would be gone; after all, how likely was this whole situation to begin with? She knew that it wasn't very.

"I'm afraid to let go," she said softly next to Usopp's ear. His tears had started to subside.

"Then don't," he said. The words made Merry feel warm inside.

"I have to. You can't stay here forever. You're still alive. You don't belong here." Usopp held onto her tighter.

"No."

"You have to go. I don't want you to, but you have to. You have to continue your adventures and tell all of your stories to the world." Usopp remained silent for a moment.

"Then come with me; come with us. If Luffy finds out who you are then he won't leave until you join us." Merry shook her head. She pulled away from the embrace much to Usopp's dismay. Merry placed her hands on either cheek and pressed her forehead against his, holding eye contact with the man.

"I care about you so much, Usopp. I may not remember anything, but I can feel that I do. And that's exactly why I can't let you do this to yourself. You have to let go." She pulled away herself back and dropped her hands to fall on his. He noticed tears start to fill her eyes again. "It hurts. I know it hurts. But you have to." She brought his hands up to her cheeks and leaned into his touch.

"I don't want to," he said as he shook his head. "I really don't want to." Merry gave him a small, melancholic smile.

"I know," she said. "But it's alright." She let go of his hand, letting it drop down, and turned to face the large, partying crowd. She giggled when she saw Luffy being thrown up into the air by the crowd. "It's alright to let go," she said after a moment. "I'm not asking you to forget me. I hope you don't. But—you have a new ship now, right?"

"Yeah," Usopp said quietly, his gaze still set on Merry. "The Sunny."

"Then," she started, turning her head to look at him with a large grin on her face. "Sail with her. Have so many more adventures with her. And take care of her and love her the way that you loved," she hesitated before finishing her sentence, "me." Her grin shrunk into a small smile and her gaze shifted down to her hands on her lap.

"Will you relay a message to her for me?" She asked him. Usopp looked at her questioningly. "Tell her," Merry began, even though he hadn't responded to her question. "Tell her that she better take good care of you guys. And that she better be willing to take you all to the ends of the world. She better be willing to carry you all for as long as she possibly can."  
Merry covered her face with her hands as she finished. Usopp could see that the smile hadn't left her face, but there were now tears falling down her cheeks and spilling out through her fingers.

"I'm so happy that I got to meet you all again," she told him. "That I got to meet you again. Even if I don't remember you guys; it—." She sniffled. "It makes me so happy to know that I was loved so dearly." Usopp's heart ached at her words. He reached and pulled her into another embrace. Merry moved her arms to wrap around him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I...I know you're right. We said goodbye to you a long time ago. I know that...that you're gone—that...that you can't..." Usopp gripped tightly onto the back of her dress as he found himself unable to finish the sentence. "I'm sorry." Merry shook her head as she felt his tears fall onto her back. She buried her face into his shoulder.

"I'm happy too," he continued. "Even though I have to say goodbye. I'm still happy that I got to see you again. Even though I have to say goodbye, I'm grateful that I get the chance to do it a second time." Merry, whose tears had died down smiled to herself at the bittersweet words. "And I'm happy that I get to know what happened to you. I'm glad that I can know that you're okay—that you're gonna be okay. And—."

"Usopp," said Merry gently, cutting off the sharpshooter. He sniffled, his tears having died down.

"Yes?" He questioned. Merry broke free of his embrace and smiled.

"How about you tell me more stories?" Usopp rubbed at his damp cheeks, trying his best to dry them. "Tell me about your adventures with Sunny!" She said with a grin on her face. The request caught Usopp off guard.

"A story...about the Sunny?" He asked her with a puzzled look on his face. Merry nodded, not allowing her grin to falter.

"Umm..."

Usopp couldn't help but think back to everything that they had been through together; to how he would always do his best to give her what she needed—be it a new mast or the best patch-up job that he could manage. In comparison to those things, a story seemed like nothing. But—

In that moment, he knew, a story was everything; because it would be the last thing that he could do for her. And if this, this story, was going to be his final gift to her...

He gave her a grin.

"Well, since you never got to meet the crew's musician," Usopp mused aloud. "Would you believe that he's a talking skeleton?"

"Really?" Merry asked with a gasp. Usopp nodded. "How'd you guys meet him?"

"Well, we were sailing on the Sunny, on our way to Fishman Island," Usopp began, recounting the events that passed while they were in Thriller Bark, all the while not taking his eyes off of Merry's face which held a look of absolute wonder.

If this, this story, was going to be his final gift to her, then he'd be damned if he wouldn't make it the best damn story that he's ever told.


End file.
